Our 5 Grocery Essentials During Quarantine (with Recipes & Thought Starters!)
Hi dear friends! It’s kind of incredible that we’re 5 weeks into quarantine? I remember when Matt and I made the household decision to only leave for essentials, and that day feels like it was a year ago but also yesterday? Time isn’t real. There, I said it. Time isn’t real in quarantine, at least. Anyway, we’ve pretty much cycled through all of our go-to dinner ideas over the past five weeks of cooking each and every thing we eat, so today we’re sharing what have become our essentials, as well as some fun recipes to try yourself and thought starters to come up with your own dishes :)
Let’s jump right in, bb.
Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)
A basic. I feel like chickpeas are the only actual cool beans? Like, no one really care about lima beans and pinto beans but chickpeas are the shit and I think it’s all due to hummus being pretty much the tastiest thing ever.
So, your go to recipe here is a big batch of hummus, and you can find our 5-minute Hummus recipe right here.
For a crunchy take for snacking or topping other dishes with, you can turn to crispy baked chickpeas. All you need is a 15 oz can of chickpeas strained and rinsed, about two teaspoons of any dry seasoning that suits the dish you’re making, and three tablespoons of olive oil. Toss your chickpeas in the seasoning and olive oil, spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes on 400 degrees. You may want to shake the pan after ten minutes to keep them from sticking. Let cool before using (they’ll get crunchier as they cool, too!). If you’re using these to top off Mexican food, use chili powder. If you’re making a big Cobb salad and want to use these as croutons, toss them in your favorite poultry seasoning. The sky is the limit! Check out our recipe for Fried Eggplant Medallions that we served on a bed of hummus with crispy za’atar chickpeas!
Bananas
A cheap and easy go-to fruit that can be safely disinfected after you take it home from the super market! We toss ‘em into our protein smoothies, cereal, and oatmeal, or freeze and blend them with sugar or maple syrup for a frozen banana “ice cream.” But we’re mostly in it for when they start to turn brown. Because that’s when you’re gonna make banana bread. Here are four (!!!) of our banana bread recipes for you, from easiest to most complex:
Chickpea Pasta
We’ve been on our chickpea pasta game for a while now, but we’re especially thankful for it during quarantine. We’ve been so much less active than normal that having a high protein and lower carb pasta has meant less carb coma, while still getting in our daily protein and fiber needs. We use and love Banza brand, but there are a few on the market. Use this however you would use regular pasta! We use elbows for mac n cheese, spaghetti for meatballs and spaghetti, penne for cream sauces, and cavatappi or rotini for pasta salad. Here are a few simple pasta recipes for you that you can use with chickpea pasta:
Frozen Vegetables
An obvious choice, but frozen vegetables are perfect because 1.) they reduce trips to the grocery store as they don’t perish for a long time, and 2.) you can easily disinfect the bag or packaging. We’ve been stocking up on frozen spinach and broccoli, because they’re our faves and also because it’s all that our grocery store has had recently. And vegetables don’t have to be boring, okay?! For spinach, we love this incredibly simple bare bones spanakopita bites recipe that is basically just spinach dip in buttery filo dough. We’ve also got a great recipe for cheesy farmers market quiche that you’ll love! The broccoli’s been added to stir fries, fried rice, and stews to help bulk out meals and add some nutrition. Get creative with your frozen vegetables by adding them to frittata, quiche, or a big batch of homemade beef stew.
Tater Tots
Comfort is just as important as nutrition in this hellscape we are currently living in, so don’t forget to treat yourself! We’ve found tater tots to be a randomly exciting thing to add as a side for meals, on top casseroles, in shepherd’s pie, etc. It doesn’t have to just be a side dish that subs for French fries! Get creative and use these guys in dishes to help fill out a meal. We bought about 5 bags of them and have used each bag in a different meal over the past few weeks, and we’ve loved it each time. Want a thought starter? How about this Chicken Pot Tater Tot Hotdish that we love to make that is basically just chicken pot pie but with tater tots instead of pie crust.
Thanks for stopping by the blog! As always, if you make something don’t forget to let us know by tagging us @probablythis on social media!
xoxo Beau & Matt